


The Men of St Gloriana

by AngloSamurai



Category: Girls und Panzer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-18 01:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14201715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngloSamurai/pseuds/AngloSamurai
Summary: What if the schools had their male counterparts? After the victory of Oorai in the 63rd nationals and then against University Selection, the male side of the schools start to become more prominent, having always existed but always been overshadowed by the female teams and placed in a separate league, now there are attempts at making a co-ed league as well as the separate ones. In this story, most of the characters have a background with the country their school represents. Will contain tank battles, drama and romance of course.The main plot focuses on Henry Fordwaith and his crew, leader of the St Gloriana male team





	1. Tally ho!

**Author's Note:**

> I've been a fan of GuP for a while now, and with das finale slowly coming out I needed to fill the void so I decided to start writing this, It also helps me relax after working on my dissertation and other uni work, so expect updates randomly, although once I am done with work I'll make it more regular.

A 75mm shot clipped off the hull of the Churchill Mark VII, ricocheting into the dirt shaking the inhabitants of the tank, Orange Pekoe paused in her loading of the Churchill’s main gun to look at her commander and Lady, Darjeeling who was usually so composed and calm had her fist clenched around the microphone of the tanks communication set and her blonde eyebrows were furrowed in frustration and annoyance. Assam turned her head to see where the next shot was, took one look at her commander, shook her head and poked Pekoe with her foot. Two pairs of light purple eyes met and simultaneously rolled upwards in exasperation at their commander, who was oblivious to what her crew were doing as she stared intently at the radio.

Another shot bounced off the Churchill’s front armour, rattling the tea cups that were stacked neatly behind the radio, they’d been stuck in this position for so long that they had run out of tea, and Darjeeling was missing the feel of the warm cup in her hand, it provided her with a sense of calmness and grounded her in the here and now. She broke her silence with a mutter,

“What is taking that reckless fool so long”, she almost growled in anger, but remembered her manners and stopped herself before she could do so _‘A Lady must always be composed in front of her team, it sets the example’._

Her stare was snapped by the sound of four sets of quiet chuckles, all of her crew members were facing her with smirks on their faces and knowing glints in their eyes,

“What?! Why are you looking at me like that!” She quickly fired off the question.

“Oh nothing” that was Assam, “Just that you’re always like this when” she sniggered again “-He’s- involved” placing great emphasis on the “He”.

Darjeeling folded her arms in front of her “I don’t know what you are talking about, I am perfectly calm”, just then another shell hit the turret of the Churchill, knocking her off balance. Darjeeling screamed internally _‘This is all his fault, him and his thrice damned chevalier personality’._ Just as she was about to start snapping out orders to her girls, the radio crackled to life and a masculine, English accented voice came out of it,

 “Sorry we’re late to the party Darling, Richie here decided to take a short cut, that wasn’t either short or a cut” a muffled protest came from the radio and the sound of multiple men laughing at their drivers expense. Darjeeling grabbed the Microphone from Pekoe who’d taken it back from her after she’d let it go, “How many times have I told you to -not- call me Darling, especially on an open radio channel!” ‘ _The impudence of him! I wish I could throttle him right now’ ._

“Oh but I think her Ladyship doth protest too much, don’t worry anyway Darling the cavalry is here to pull you out of your mess again” A burst of laughter from the radio again, then a crackle as the channel switched so all tanks were receiving the message

“Hello dear ladies of St Gloriana, fear not for the chaps are here! Tally ho lads and into the buggers!”, with that the radio went dead, Darjeeling sighed and swivelled in her chair to look at her crew waiting for orders, “Well go on then! You heard him”

** The Turret of the Comet I **

Henry Fordwaith, affectionately nicknamed the Iron Duke by his commanders and crew, pushed the radio microphone down onto its holder, ending the call. The Comet I sped forward, traversing the open field where the St Gloriana women’s team was pinned by both Saunders forces. Shermans began to reverse as they took fire from the men’s anti-tank squad, 2 Avengers and 1 3-Inch Gun carrier laid down cover fire as the main force of the men’s team sped hastily across the field to their compatriot’s aid. Henry looked at his crew, his driver Richard “Richie” Warrington, focused on the field ahead, expertly avoiding the inaccurate fire of some of the panicking Sherman gunners, another Richard, also known as Dick to his friends, and his twin brother Arthur Price, served as gunner and loader for the Comet respectively, and finally, the stock of ginger hair that was Timothy Perkins, who operated the turret’s machine gun and served as Henry’s batman, not dissimilar to Pekoe’s role with Darjeeling.

 Both Richards had their eyes pinned on their target, the Sherman Firefly that was desperately trying to turn it turret to get a good angle on the approaching thundering charge of the men’s team. The Comet was accompanied by 4 Cromwell V’s and 4 Valentine XI’s, all medium tanks that packed a good punch, perfect for the style that the men’s team had perfected over the years, a glorious sweeping charge, accompanied by a bombardment from the Anti-tank squad, who were currently performing their job admirably despite the long distance, two of Saunders Sherman M4s were already smoking and had the white flag raised.

Henry cracked his neck, “Why does she always get snappy with me, it’s always just me! I’m an innocent soul” he protested to whatever crew members were paying attention to him.

“It’s just your charming personality my Lord”, Perkins said with a deadpan face.

Henry waved his hand around, “Bah she doesn’t recognise good tactics and skill when she sees it, anyway!” he picked the Microphone back up “Norton dear boy, could you potentially start raining good old British steel on that Firefly for me, shake Naomi’s aim up a bit” without waiting for a response from Clarence Norton, the commander of the Gun Carrier, he put the Microphone down, and used his neck mic to relay commands to the tanks near him. 

“Ok chaps, form a V formation on the Comet, I want two Valentines on either side, and two Cromwells on the flank, when we hit them I want the Valentines to follow us through, but the Cromwells will split off as we hit, swinging around their flank and hitting those damn Yanks in their soft underbellies, understood?” A chorus of “Yes my lord” followed through the radio, Henry smirked and turned off the mic with a click, “Oh dear Kay isn’t going to know what hit her…”

 A volley of shots caused him to turn his head, as three Shermans exploded into smoke as the Churchill and Matilda’s finally decided to start returning fire now that the Saunders forces were shaken up by the appearance of the rest of St Gloriania, Darjeerling had lost her entire Crusader force of 6 tanks to Saunders to a pincer movement, that even a commander as reckless as Rosehip couldn’t break out of, so she had reverted to her usual defensive formation and turtled on the field, hoping the weather the storm out with her 5 Matilda’s and her own Churchill.

 The Saunders line finally started to reorganise as Kay and her male compatriot, who’s name Henry still couldn’t recall for the life of him, started to grasp hold of the situation, half the Sherman line peeled off to meet the oncoming rush of tanks charging down the field, whilst the others, including Henry’s original target, the Firefly, turned back to St Gloriana’s heavies. Henry peeked his head out of the turret, the wind rushing through his dark brown, almost auburn hair, making his bright blue eyes water, he could make out of the bushy platinum mess of a hairstyle that was Kay, standing out of her M4’s turret, yelling orders into her tanks radio, just like he was. He activated his throat mic again

“Davenport, Hamilton, take a sharp left, flank round now” Two Cromwells peeled off from the advancing line, as three Shermans turned to face this new threat, Henry spoke again “Dick if you don’t mind chap, take out the middle Sherman”, the gunner nodded, glaring down his scope at his target, Richie slowed the Comet ever so slightly to give him a clearer shot,

“On the way!” the 77mm main gun exploded with fire as the shell flew through the air and buried itself into the weak side armour of the Sherman, causing smoke to billow from the engine and the pop of the white flag. The empty shell quickly was removed from the breech and the next one was swiftly inserted and locked by Arthur,

“Ready My Lord!” Henry nodded “Gentlemen” he spoke into the mic “Fire at will”, this time there was no response, just the echoing wave of shots being fired from his flanking tanks, as they were on the move, the accuracy was quite off, the other crews not quite in tune with each other as the two Richards when it came to moving and firing, but a couple of shots from the Cromwells landed, immobilizing one of the remaining Shermans facing his charge which and they rapidly started to withdraw.

 _‘Hmmm, that makes 6 down, and it looks like Darling didn’t make much of a dent in the initial fight, seeing as both teams had 24 tanks to start with, looks it’s our 18 vs their 18 now, much more even’_ Henry smirked, he knew that Kay would be loving this, a shell flew past and hit one of the Valentine’s dead on, causing it to screech to a halt, the dreaded white flag popped up, his radio crackled

“Sorry my Lord, we’re out of it” that was George Bradford,

“Don’t worry about it Bradford, happens all the time, everyone ok in there?”, “Just a few bruises that’s all, win this for us my Lord!” the line went dead and Henry sighed, he’d been hoping to make this a free run but apparently not, he popped his head back up and scanned the line for the culprit and of course it was the Firefly, he rolled his eyes imagining Naomi with a small smirk on her face as she chewed that damned irritable bubble-gum of hers.

“Browning, Fawcett, take that Firefly out the picture”, The two remaining Cromwells fell out of line and sped towards their target, moving too quickly for the Sherman Gunners to pick them off. “Line halt!” The Three Valentines came to a halt next to the Comet, their guns adjusted. “Norton, I want these Shermans down now if you please”, the Anti-Tank squad had moved ever so slightly forward into accurate range, and began to pick off the Shermans, who were firing at the Cromwells. Kay had 8 Shermans left facing the men’s team, the two left flanking Cromwells began to pepper the Saunders tanks with shells, plinking off armour and making dents where they could.

His radio snapped, and Darjeerling’s voice came through his headset, sounding like her usual self this time. “Time to wrap this up Hal, let’s get to it, I need my tea”,

he grumbled to himself, he hated being called Hal, both of them were very good at pushing each other’s buttons in just the right way to get a reaction, he sighed, ‘no time to petty bickering now’, flicking his mic on “Very well Darling have it done in a jiffy, Perkins my good fellow, I think it’s time for a good old tune, I think _‘The Girl I left behind me’_ for today”.

Perkin’s saluted, and turned to the radio, soon the tune was emitting from the radio “All tanks will advance across the field!” Both Henry and Darjeerling spoke at the same time, receiving a Chorus of “Yes my Lord and Lady”. Leaning down into the tank proper, Henry tapped Richie on the shoulder “Straight for the flag tank if you please”, Richie nodded in response, pushing the tank forward.

Popping back out of the turret he scanned the smoke blackened battlefield, as the St Gloriana tanks advanced forward, Shermans began falling left right and centre as Kay desperately tried to protect the flag tank, the Cromwells carved out a path for the Comet, as the remaining Matilda’s formed a protective box around the Churchill, their flag tank. The Comet sped through the smoking remains of the Sherman line, scope lined up on the flag tank, Dick took a deep breath, before gently squeezing the trigger….


	2. Rum galore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's match after party time!

Loud American pop music emitted from the Saunders club house, an extravagantly large building where Kay liked to use to further her hobby of throwing parties every other day. Henry and his crew gently strolled towards the front door, dressed casually in jeans and shirts. If the noise was anything to judge by, then the majority of St Gloriania was already inside as well as the whole Saunders team.

“You know, Pop music is never really my thing chaps, but I suppose it’ll have to do”

“Oh come along Boss, it’s worth it for the privilege of attending one of the great Saunders parties, plus you get some drink down you and it’ll all fade into the background” That was Arthur, the loader, a well built lad, standing at around 5’11, with black hair and green eyes, next to him was his twin brother, Richard, also known as Dick to his mates, who was lean where Arthur was bulky. Perkins was next to them, a smaller lad around 5’9, he was twisting a ring on his right hand nervously his blue eyes hidden beneath a pop of ginger hair and next was Richie, the driver, quiet and stoic in comparison to the more timid Perkins and boisterous twins, he rarely spoke out of turn and sported a mess of dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Plus, we might get to see another one of the legendary clashes between the Lord and Lady” Arthur spoke softly to his crew mates, they all chuckled, albeit a tad nervously. The arguments that raged between Henry and Darjeeling were common knowledge amongst the Sensha-do team, although, unknown to their knowledge, there was a bet going round that they would either end up together or fall out so badly that one of them would leave the team.

“What was that chaps?” Henry paused with his hand on the door, “Oh nothing Sir! Let’s get, inside shall we?” with that Perkins quickly pushed past Henry and into the clubhouse, to be overwhelmed immediately with a blast of hot air, the smell of alcohol and his girlfriend, Orange Pekoe.

“Come on Tim, you need a drink quickly!” Pekoe’s normally quiet and soft voice was high pitched and quite loud, probably the effect of multiple drinks, or in this case probably not that many at all. Henry chuckled as his batman was dragged off by his ginger girlfriend. The other men quickly made their way to the bar. He was about to follow but suddenly arms encircled him from behind as an excitable Kay launched herself at him.

“Ooof Kay, a little bit of warning next time” Henry chuckled as the blonde gave him a hug from behind.

“Heeeeey Henry, good match today! Your little charge really got us good!” Kay gave a big goofy grin as he turned towards her after she had released him from her clutches.

“Well when you turned towards us, I was expecting us to end up like Chi-ha tan do all the time” he chuckled and winked, “How’d you manage to get hold of the alcohol, I thought the schools were strict on it?”

Kay waved her hand dismissively “Ah I have my ways, they tend to be more lax after a big match, win or lose, gotta keep up our rep of holding the biggest and best parties! How are things with you and Dar, still at each other’s throats?”

Henry flushed red, “You know exactly what it’s like, she thinks I’m too reckless and constantly berates me, besides” he looked at Kay slyly “I bet Alisa was listening in to the radio anyway” Kay rolled her eyes and took a sip from the red cup she was holding before thrusting it into Henry’s hands “Here drink, you’ve got catching up to do” He sniffed the drink briefly, smelling the sweet sent of Rum and took a large gulp, the honey sweet rum and coke slid down his throat easily and he quickly drained the rest of the cup.

“Ah that hit the spot!” he chuckled at the flabbergasted expression on Kay’s face, “Why are you so surprised? We literally drink sherry before a match, they gave up trying to stop us eons ago!”

He turned from Kay to scan the room, Pekoe and Tim were in a corner, the two Richards and Arthur had acquired themselves some beverages and were standing in a small group chatting with Assam, Rosehip and Rukari, however, he couldn’t spot Darjeeling anywhere.

“Hey Kay? Where’s Darling got to?”

“Aw it’s so cute you’re worried about her, and you call her Darling as well, daawwwww you two” Henry turned beet red again and spluttered in protest “Kay-No-no, no, it’s just a battlefield nickname”

“You sure it’s not a bedroom one as well” Kay winked at him, Henry dragged his hand over his face “God damnit woman you are insufferable, why am I even friends with you”

“Because who else would you come to for relationship advice?”, she dragged him over to the bar for a refill of his drink, “Come on, we’ll go look for -Darling-“ she smirked knowingly

  Unbeknownst to them, Darjeeling had overheard the start of the conversation, she’d been drinking beforehand to try and calm her nerves about talking to Henry without flying off the handle, she’s even had Pekoe nicely braid her hair, and dressed up in a loosely buttoned white shirt and a red skirt, but she heard Henry mention how he thought she thought of him to Kay and lost her never, tears welling up in her sapphire blue eyes, before she blinked them back. No she wouldn’t cry over such a petty thing, she was the Lady of St Gloriana after all!

She glanced down at her drink, alcohol wasn’t something that the female St Gloriana students regularly indulged in, but their first Co-Ed victory, and with it being against Saunders, they decided to let their hair down, figuratively speaking of course. Making up her mind, she finished her drink, tossing the cup into one of the waste bags dotted around the room and began stalking after the unaware Henry. Kay noticed her coming and quickly vacated the area to the safety of her sub-commanders.

Henry span around just in time for him to be shoved against the wall by his fellow commander, her normally ice cool blue eyes filled with -something- he wasn’t sure, but all thoughts of that ceased to exist as she connected her lips with his.

Henry froze for a moment, he couldn’t lie to himself, he’d thought about doing this multiple times but not quite like this but sometimes you just had to take what you were given, so he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, deepening the kiss between them, lips moving softly against each other as the initial shock of contact wore off. She tasted like the rum he had just been drinking, her body warm against his.

They were unaware of the fact that the entire room had gone quiet as the stunned members of both male and female St Gloriana teams gawked at their commanders and the Saunders lot followed suit, Henry and Darjeeling slowly broke off, still watching the other.

“So err, not that I’m complaining but where did that come from?”

Darjeeling blushed and stuttered “I-don’t know”

Henry rolled his eyes “Always cautious, just like your tanks” he smirked playfully

Her eyes narrowed “Why you- mmph!” her response was cut off as he kissed her again, moaning into his mouth, before breaking it off and slapping him

“Ow! Seriously?!” he rubbed his cheek, now flaming red

“That was for being so, so…..YOU earlier”

He let go of her but she didn’t step away “Oh and you weren’t being so stubborn and just sitting in a field practically begging to be slaughtered!” both of them started bickering rather loudly, still unaware of the crowd they had drawn

Assam, Rosehip and Henry’s team all collectively sighed, it was going to be a long night.

** The morning after, Henry’s house **

The Sun peaked through a gap in the curtains of Henry’s bedroom, illuminating the mess that had been left behind, clothes were throw all over and a messy head of hair was barely visible from beneath the covers of the king sized bed, a few birds could be heard chirping in the background, before being drowned out by the alarm clock, which had also been thrown to the other side of the room.

 _Beep Beep Beep, Beep Beep Beep,_ the illuminated numbers on the clocks display showed 8:30AM. At first there was no response from the bed, but after a few minutes of beeping there was an agonised groan, as it’s occupant emerged from the cocoon of quilt and sheet. Henry rubbed his eyes, his head was aching, and his stomach didn’t feel much better either, he blearily made his way across the room, tripping over on cast aside jeans and landing face first.  He just groaned and still lying down on the floor, slammed a hand down onto the clock, silencing the alarm.

Henry lay in silence for a few minutes, before picking himself back up, grabbing a towel from the rack and heading into his en-suite shower

After about ten minutes in the shower, he emerged slightly fresher and more alive and began to quickly tidy his room, gathering up all his errant clothes and pulling his bed sheets back to allow it to air out. His stomach rumbled again, reminding him of it’s food starved pain. He didn’t even need to glance into the mirror to know he looked a mess, but he didn’t care, it was only him and his crew in the house, he unlocked his door and stepped outside into the corridor only to trip over an unconscious Arthur, cursing as he fell.

Grappling with the bannister, he pulled himself back up to his feet, then landed a solid kick to Arthur’s right arm, the loader jolted awake, smacking his head against the wall,

“Oh bugger me sideways- leave me be moth- Oh, you’re not mother” Arthur squinted at Henry.

“Congratulations, you’ve still got your eyesight, I’m surprised after how much you drank last night”

“You’re one to talk Henry, especially after what you got up to as well” Arthur chuckled, then clutched his hands to his mouth “Oh I’m gonna be- OUT OF THE WAY” he made a quick dash for the bathroom and Henry could hear the sound of him retching the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

Henry snorted, rubbing the side of his neck, then flinching as his hand made contact with what seemed to be an extraordinarily large bruise. “Hey Arthur, did I fall over last night or something?”

Arthur poked his head out of the bathroom door, before bursting into laughter “Oh God no, you don’t remember?” he disappeared briefly, flushing the toilet, “Come have a look in the mirror”

Henry made his way past his loader into the bathroom, there on his neck was a hickey.

“Oh? Oh! Wait what” Henry looked at Arthur in bewilderment, “What? Why? How? And most importantly, Who?”

“Oh the others are gonna love this, come on I smell bacon” Arthur pulled Henry downstairs into the shared kitchen, already sitting at the table was Orange Pekoe sipping on some freshly made tea, whilst Tim was just prepping some eggs to put in the pan, whilst bacon sizzled under the grill.

“Pekoe? What are you doing here, I thought Darling didn’t like her girls staying at ours?”

Pekoe giggled, “Oh I don’t think that’ll be a problem anymore, especially after what you did”

Henry looked agape at her for a moment

“You know I think I can see the cogs slowly beginning to turn, bloody hell Henry how much did you drink last night?” Richard came walking past, patting Arthur on the shoulder and with a sleepy Assam in tow.

“Dar-She left this on me?”

“Yup!” that was Rosehip, ‘ _Is the whole bloody team here today?’ Henry wondered_

“Let’s just say that you two alternated between arguing and attempting to bite the others lips off” Richie followed behind Rosehip, the rest of the group broke into chuckles.

“Right, right” Henry was quite flustered “and where is she now?”

“Oh, Kay took her home after we dragged you out, she should be awake right now”

“Right, I’ll be back”

Henry darted out of the kitchen, the sounds of his teammates laughter following him, dashing into his room he threw on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, some trainers then ran out of the house, making his way towards where Darjeeling and the other girls lived.

Stopping just outside the front door to get his breath back and composing himself, he went to rap his knuckles on the door, but it was already opened. Darjeeling smirked at him from inside, her hair down, dressed in a white fluffy dressing gown and nursing a cup of tea

“How did you know I was here?”

“You’re extraordinarily loud when you’re out of breath, and Assam texted me”

Henry rolled his eyes “Of course she did, anyway, I figure we need to talk, seeing as you’re responsible for this monstrosity on my neck”

“If I recall correctly, you rather enjoyed the process”

“Well clearly, otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here would I? Although you could have been more precise, but I guess it’s in your nature” Henry winked, as Darjeeling blushed

“Yes – well, come in I guess, we do need to talk I suppose”

“Gosh could you make it sound any less like a chore” Henry responded shutting the door behind him, voice laden with sarcasm.

“Sarcasm is ill befitting of a gentleman Hal” Darjeeling gently chided him

“Well I didn’t realise ravishing my neck was considered ladylike behaviour”

Darjeeling had the grace to look abashed “Well you are right there, as much as I hate to admit it”

“I’m right when it comes to multiple things, tanks, you and me, I could go on”

“You are most certainly not right about tanks! Wait, you and me?”

“Oh come off it Darling, we’ve been dancing around each other for 3 years now, the others even have a bloody betting pool going”

“So that’s what Assam and Pekoe have been giggling about, I thought they were just both infatuated with -your- crew mates”

“Hey! Don’t blame my lads for that!”

Darjeeling put her tea down on the kitchen table, unlike the men’s house the kitchen was spotless, except for a little corner that Henry assumed was Rosehip’s

“Look Hal, we’ve both got responsibilities as commanders and to the school as a whole, we can’t repeat last night it was a- “

She was cut off by him cupping her face gently, sapphire blue eyes met ocean blue, her breath hitched as he leant in and gently brushed his lips against hers

“Darling, I understand where you are coming from, I really do, but the teams won’t be affected by this, I’m pretty sure they’d rather we be like this than constantly arguing over the radio, and don’t you dare tell me it was a mistake”

Her defence collapsed just like that, it was all for show anyway, as she melted into his arms, hangovers forgotten. Her lips sought his eagerly. They remained locked together for a time, before Henry’s stomach rumbled, and he reluctantly broke away from her

“Ah yes, so how about a breakfast date?” he cheekily asked

“You are an insufferable rogue!” she replied, a mischievous smile on her lips

“So that’s a yes then?”

“If you’re the one paying”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand that Darjeeling may appear out of character for part of this chapter, but is mainly due to alcohol and I like to think that the characters have their battle personalities and their out of battle ones, but that might be explored later on


	3. Training day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parade and some training, trying out new things.

A light breeze whispered across the Sensha-do training ground, fluttering the flag that rose above it, the Union Flag emblazoned in the corner, on a light blue field, with the St Gloriana’s classic symbol in the middle. Just beneath the flag pole, which stood in the middle of the parade ground that was just in front of the tank storage facility was a podium upon which stood Henry and Darjeeling, it was dead silent on the grounds, the only sound was the scratching of leaves as the slowly swirled around along the concrete.

Both commanders were attired in full regalia, scarlet sashes across their sensha-do uniforms, Darjeeling had donned a beret that rested elegantly on her usual French braid, Henry also wore a beret, his was a dark red, in comparison to Darjeeling’s light blue. Arrayed out in front of them was the full St Gloriana team, all similarly dressed minus the sashes. Also on the parade ground was the marching band, bagpipes and all.

Upon each tank commanders hip was a ceremonial sword, held out in front of them whilst the rest of the regular crew members simply stood to attention. Henry ran over the team once more with his eyes, turned his head ever so slightly and inclined it to Darjeeling who nodded in response.

“Parade will be dismissed, you have fifteen minutes to ready yourselves for training, I expect everyone in their tanks as quickly as possible”

Henry took over there “Parade…left face!”

The click of boots echoed across the otherwise empty ground, as the team turned in unison

“Pipe Major, if you will.”

The commander of the marching band, the Pipe Major known was Peppermint, was a tall girl with short cropped red hair, she saluted the two commanders (British style of course), then twirling her staff around, called out

“Parade…QUICK MARCH!” and off they set to the tune of _Highland Laddie_ , the bagpipes accompanied by the drums and fifes of the rest of the band, a mixture of both men and women from St Glorinia’s various music clubs.

As the parade marched off, Henry let out a relieved sigh.

“Ah finally, ugh all this drill practice best be worth it”

Darjeeling took off her beret and folded it carefully “You know it will be, elegance and keeping our posture is key to our sensha-do, besides, next tournament we’ll show up the rest of the schools at the opening parade”

He smiled wryly at her “You just want to show up Kuromarine after last year’s defeat”

Darjeeling simply tapped her nose in response. Both of them made their way down off the podium, then she snaked her arm through his as they walked towards where their tanks were stored.

“I was thinking of making it a bit of a brawl today, think your girls are up for it?”

Normally such a quip would have earned him an earful, but since they had started seeing each other a few days ago, the two had become far more mellow in regards to each other.

“Well it’ll be different to the usual, but they should really start learning to think of their feet, after all that’s what won Oorai the tournament, we need subordinates who can take the initiative against our opponents, I fear my girls have become too reliant on me.”

“Our country will, I believe, sooner forgive an officer for attacking an enemy than for letting it alone." Henry cheerfully said

“And here I thought, I was the one who made the eccentric quotations, Nelson?”

“Correct, we’ll need to make sure our sub-commanders know that they won’t face trouble for taking the initiative, our way has stagnated recently, and we need to adapt in order to win”

“I couldn’t agree more”

The two walked in comfortable silence, Henry enjoying the warmth of having Darjeeling so close to him. When they reached the tanks, she un-looped her arm from his.

“I’ll see you out there”

She stood on her tip-toes, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before making her way towards her Churchill. Henry watched her go, before shaking his head wryly and smirking, turning towards his Comet, where his crew members were watching him with cheeky grins.

Henry scowled at them as he clambered onto the Comet, “Damn your eyes, get ready to move out”

He slipped into his commanders seat, as the others took position, all business like now. Slipping on his throat mic, he activated it

“Attention all crews, this is Duke, today’s training will be different all tanks shall move out onto the grounds and spread out, then upon my signal we shall commence fighting. This will be a free for all match, so think on your feet and don’t do anything stupid. That is all, carry on”

“A free for all Sir? You do realise that we outclass virtually all of the other tanks, so they’ll probably gang up on us” Perkins spoke up, echoing the thoughts of the rest of the crew.

“Well the odds in a real battle won’t always be in our favour anyway, it’ll be fun! Now, let’s make our start shall we?”

Richie nodded and pushed the Comet into gear, the engine revving as it rolled forwards, the rest of the tanks followed suit. Henry opened up the turret hatch and stood up in his chair, glancing backwards across as the tanks rumbled across the parade ground, he caught Darjeeling’s eye as her Churchill made it’s way in front of the Matildas. He gave a cheeky salute and if he had been close enough he would have seen her eyes roll up to the heavens.

Dropping back down into the tank proper and closing the hatch, Henry pulled out a map of the training ground

“What do you think Tim? We’re more manoeuvrable and faster than the others”

Perkins leaned over, glancing across the map. The St Gloriana training grounds contained forests, a couple of rivers winding their way through the vegetation, some open fields and a couple of hilly sections. “Our gun depression is quite good, so I’d suggest we take up some of the hills, that way we can get a vantage spot and use our 76mm to snipe anyone cross below, plus we can use the hills as cover to retreat if we need to”

“Very good Tim, the hills it is. Richie if you will”

The Comet splintered off from the rest of the tanks, heading its own separate direction, the others followed suit.

** Half an hour later **

Henry peered through his binoculars over the ridge of the hill the Comet was parked on, there were trees on either side which provided cover, a shallow river behind it and an open field in front, creating a perfect kill box.

The still air was shattered by a large boom, and the crackling of a shell that flew over the Comet and exploded in the river, Henry flinched as it passed by, before attempting to find their attacker.

From the tree line came another flash and a crack as another shell sailed through the air towards them “FULL REVERSE NOW!”

The Comet just made it back in time before the incoming shell landed smack bang where they had been previously, sending dirt, stones and grass flying past Henry. He felt a sharp burning pain strike his right cheek as he had failed to duck down into the turret in time.

Letting out a soft hiss as his right hand made contact with the sticky blood that was now dripping from the slice across his cheek, Henry brought his binoculars back up, locating their enemy. The 3 Inch Gun carrier sat on the tree line, barrel smoking.

“It’s the carrier, position north, line it up if you will, sabot round.”

“Ready!”

“Fire.”

The whumph sound, and clang of the empty shell casing hitting the floor of the tank indicated that the 76mm of the Comet  was unleashing it’s revenge on the Gun Carrier. A second that seemed like an hour passed as the round from the Comet flew cleanly across the plain and scored a direct hit on the Carrier, knocking it out, the white flag popping out of the top.

Henry grinned, despite the pain that muscle movement caused, “Good shot, reload and lets move the others would’ve heard that”

More explosions could be heard in the distance where other tanks had started to engage each other. “Head for the nearest sounds, we’ll see if we can clear up the victor”

Making their way through the forest to the right, the smoking remains of one of the Matildas came into view, following the sound of the explosions the Comet soon came across a group of tanks all engaged in a furious engagement.

A Crusader sped across the clearing in an attempt to flank around an Avenger, which fired off a reflex shot, missing and taking a shot from the Crusader in the flank causing it’s flag to pop. The Crusader in turn was flipped by a shot from a Cromwell causing it to land on its back from the momentum of its charge.

Henry tapped Richie with his foot, indicating for the Comet to stop. Pulling up, the gun was sighted on the Cromwell, “Fire when ready”

“ON THE WAY”

The shell casing was spat out as the Comet fired yet again, but the Cromwell commander had quick reactions and the tank sped out of harms way leaving the shell to crash into a tree just behind, sending it toppling over.

“Miss, with those reactions that must be Davenport – SHIT”

A shell clipped off the side of Comet, grazing the St Gloriana emblem, henry battened down the hatch, frowning as the cut on his cheek kept bleeding.

“Tim, give me a cloth”

Perkins passed him a white handkerchief, which he then folded into a square and pressed it against his cheek, instantly staining it red.

“I’ll be fine, head wounds bleed like the devil, it’s nothing. Now where did that shot come from?”

Peering out of the Commanders eye slit, Henry found the culprit, the Churchill was sitting just to their right, barrel pointed directly at them.

“Oh, bravo Darling, very well done. Richie into the clearing please, Arthur load smoke, Dick lay down the smoke just in front of the Churchill”

Just as Dick had aimed the smoke, another shot took the Comet in the side, rattling the inhabitants causing the shot to go wild.

“Blast, forgot about Davenport, Richie full ahead for the Churchill, get around it’s back we can drive faster than it’s turret can rotate.”

“Oh, Assam is going to murder me later…” Richard murmured

“You think you’re going to get it bad? I’m pretty sure that was Rosehip who got hit earlier, and she really likes taking out her frustrations on me”

“You sure that’s a bad thing?” The crew burst into laughter at Arthur’s quip at the driver’s expense.

Henry smiled, aggravating the still open cut on his cheek, causing him to wince. Richie pushed the Comet forward, zipping over the uneven ground which in turn threw its occupants who weren’t the driver around like rag dolls that had their strings cut. The Churchill snapped off another shot, landing just in front of the Comet spraying it with dirt and roots from the nearby trees. Henry gritted his teeth, _Come on._ The Comet sped past the Churchill, Assam attempting to rotate the turret fast enough to follow, Richie turned jerking the Comet to the right skidding across the ground, Richard aligned the gun and Arthur slammed home a shell whilst Tim peppered the turret of the Churchill with machine gun fire to keep Darjeeling’s head down.

Time slowed as the green tracer rounds pinged off the armour of the Churchill, Richard’s finger tightened on the trigger of the main gun, waiting for his command

Henry paused – “Finish it” he nodded at Richard

Without a word Richard squeezed the trigger and the shell was spat out on its destructive path, colliding with the Churchill with an almighty bang. The men of the Comet did not have time to celebrate their victory over their female compatriots as the next minute a shell slammed into their rear armour, causing smoke to fill the turret as the engine gave up and the white flag pinged out

Coughing and spluttering the crew abandoned ship, as the Cromwell that had taken them out roared by.  Seeing as there were no other active tanks in the area, it was deemed safe enough for them to dismount, Tim retched violently on the floor attempting to clear the smoke from his lungs, Arthur had bruised his leg badly and was being supported by his brother, whereas Riche was fine having been at the very front of the tank. Henry’s cut had stopped bleeding at this point, leaving tracks of dry blood across his face, his uniform was also ruined, covered in soot and blood stains which left dark patches across his scarlet tunic.

 He shook his head to clear it from the ringing that was echoing in his ears from the shot the Comet had taken, moving over towards where Tim was doubled over he knelt down next to him and wrapped his arm over his shoulder, the retching stopped and Tim looked at his commander who was staring down at him with worried eyes

“I’m **Cough** fine Sir, just a bit of smoke” hes said as tears streamed down his face.

“Alright, but make sure you get some water down you as soon as possible, don’t need you dying of smoke inhalation, Pekoe will murder me”

Tim chuckled before breaking out into another coughing fit as Henry eased himself back to his feet, wincing at a dull throbbing pain in his lower back indicating the formation of a very large bruise. He glanced over his crew, who were more or less fine now and then crunched his way over to the Churchill, clambering over the front armour he hauled himself and opened the commanders hatch, to be met by a very serene pair of eyes, with eyebrows slightly furrowed at the state of him

“You look terrible” Darjeeling’s French braid was coming undone, loose strands of hair covering her face and a few scratches but nothing too bad.

“You should see the other guy” Henry dryly quipped, offering his hand down to help her up, which she took despite the grime covering it.

“I believe in this case, I am the other guy” Henry went to brush the stray strands off her face but she caught his hand, “Not here, later”

“Is that a promise?”

She just winked at him, before turning to help Pekoe out of the tank, Assam clambered out of the driver’s hatch, followed by the other two crew members who Henry couldn’t remember for the life of him.

Pekoe gasped at seeing Tim still kneeled over on the floor so and jumped down from the Churchill and ran to his side, helping him stand. The diminutive Pekoe never ceased to surprise Henry with her strength, Assam merely cocked an eyebrow at Richard, who rubbed the back of his head abashedly.

“How long do you reckon it’ll take the recovery vehicles to get out here”

“Long enough for you to stop bleeding all over my tank”

Henry huffed in response.


End file.
